A jury ordered the Greenpeace environmental campaign group on Wednesday to pay more than $ 660 million in damages to the Texas Energy Transfer, the Dakota Access Wixine developer.
A jury of nine people in Mandan, North Dakota, reached a verdict after approximately two days of deliberations. The result found Greenpeace responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars for shares taken to avoid the construction of the Dakota access pipe almost a decade ago.
It marks an extraordinary legal blow for Greenpeace, which had previously warned that it could be forced to bankrupt due to the case. The Environmental Defense Group said it intends to appeal the verdict.
“This case should alarm everyone, regardless of their political inclinations,” Greenpeace Us, Sushma Raman’s interim executive director said Wednesday, in a statement published Wednesday.
“It is part of a renewed impulse by corporations to arm our courts to silence dissent. We should all concern ourselves about the future of the first amendment, and demands like this are aimed at destroying our rights to protest and freedom of peaceful expression,” Raman said.
Greenpeace has described the case of Energy Transfer as a clear example of SLAPPS, referring to a lawsuit designed to bury the activist groups in legal fees and, ultimately, silence the dissent. Slapp is an acronym for “strategic demand against public participation.”
Energy Transfer said that the jury’s verdict was a “victory” for “Americans who understand the difference between the right to freedom of expression and the violation of the law,” according to Associated Press, citing a company’s statement.
“While we are pleased that Greenpeace has been responsible for his actions against us, this victory is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live daily harassment and interruptions caused by protesters who were financed and trained by Greenpeace,” the company added.
A spokesman for energy transfer was not immediately available to comment when CNBC contacted Thursday morning.
